The Big River Ruckus begins this week.
Craig Johnson, author of the Walt Longmire mystery novels, is speaking Aug. 11 at the Gibson Park bandshell.
The event is free and open to the public. Attendees should bring chairs or a blanket.
There’s a reception event with Johnson at 5 p.m. at the C.M. Russell Museum and Ruckus VIP ticket holders are invited to attend.
The event in Gibson Park begins at 7 p.m.
Tickets and more information are available on the Big River Ruckus website.
The Great Falls Public Library is also hosting an authors panel at 10 a.m. Aug. 13 at the Gibson Park bandhsell.
The authors are:
- Dave Caserio, the author of This Vanishing and Wisdom For A Dance In The Street, and is co-editor for I Am Montana: Student Reflections on Identity and Place. He is part of Humanities Montana Conversations and the Young Poets program. Recent publications: Welcome to the Resistance: Poetry as Protest, Unearthing Paradise: Montana Writers in Defense of Greater Yellowstone, Poems Across the Big Sky, Volume II, and feverdream magazine.
- Kristen Inbody, a writer for Benefis Health System. She is the former Montana Mystique reporter for the Great Falls Tribune, author of “Montana State Parks: Complete Guide & Travel Companion,” a returned Peace Corps volunteer, a world traveler, and a farm girl from Choteau. Inbody reported from Kodiak, Alaska, Cody, Wyo., Washington, D.C. and across Montana.
- Craig Lancaster, the author of nine novels and a collection of short stories, a body of work that includes the High Plains Book Award-winning 600 Hours of Edward and his most recent novel, And It Will Be a Beautiful Life (2021, The Story Plant). His work has been honored by the Montana Book Awards, the Utah Book Awards, the Independent Publisher Book Awards (gold medal, the story collection, The Art of Departure), as well as many other citations. Lancaster is also a journalist.
Concerts will be in Elks Riverside Park on Aug. 12-13 and include Tommy Castro and the Painkillers; Paul Thorn; The Melissa Lynn Band; Shinyribs; Jason Boland and the Stragglers; Suzy Bogguss; Chuck Mead; and John Roberts y Pan Blanco.
The full Ruckus schedule of events and tickets are available on the Big River Ruckus website.
